Evans Crown - Tarana - The Second Visit

On the Friday before Fathers Day, I visited one of my favourite spots again, Evans Crown located near Tarana NSW.

On this visit, I took my father along, as he had been here many more times than me, to show me some of the locations he found on this massive nature reserve, and also to have an early fathers day together.

The weather was predicted to be windy, with potential snow at night, but with a sunny day predicted, it should be a great day ahead.

A picture of my dad standing on the top of Evans Crown with the eastern mountains behind him. Its quite a decent walk to the top of the crown and with over 400 hectares of granite and thick bushland, a fantastic bushwalking location. 

We walked to the southern end of the reserve, at its highest granite point, before the mountain drops down towards the Fish River in the Tarana Valley. A new location for me but well visited by my dad. The views were amazing, and the rocky outcrops incredible.

At this southern point, there were two massive rock formations, separated by about 1 1/2 metre gap, rising 30 metres plus into the air. I notice a number of rock climbing pin points along both faces, and definitely a great location for it.

I attempted to take images of the two formations together, but required approximately 8 individual shots for a vertical panoramic image. The two above are the four images of both formations, the one below an attempt to join all eight together. No matter how I tried, the image just wouldn't work. Just another excuse to get back out there...

I took this within the gap of the rocks and tried an end to end panoramic shot. Didn't quite work out but I think it has potential...

From the southern high point, we moved through the thick low tree lines and down the southern side of the mountain. The grass was green and thick, alot of moisture and very little sun produced some excellent mushrooms and moss. Also, it appeared to be haven for wild pigs, with fresh diggings and droppings everywhere. 

The two below shots are of the same mushroom set, and quite like how these turned out.

The following image is one that places the size of the granite boulders into perspective. This image is made up of four shots and the gum tree would be near 40 metres tall. It would be difficult for two adults to join hands around its trunk. 

The next three panoramic shots are from the southern end of the reserve, looking down towards the fish river and valley. The wind had picked up by this stage and trying to stand on the rock edge while both keeping still and ensuring I didn't slip down the 50 metre gorge was testing in itself.

Amazingly, after taking a number of photos in succession, it wasn't until I put them together I noticed how quickly the line changed the images below.

After walking down the southern side of the mountain, we attempted to find out way back to the Evans Crown. The clouds started to roll in quickly and the wind picked up with a very icy edge to it. As we walked through the clearing, we came upon a new outcrop and formations which we hadn't seen before. This is definitely one which I have to come back to when the light and conditions are much better.

 Reaching the top of Evans Crown again, I took a number of shots from different view points. I definitely enjoy the imagery from this point, but as you can see, the cloud cover and darkness was starting to roll in even moreso.

On our way back down, we walked off the track to loop around a rocky outcrop and found this cavern system with rocky overhangs and partially built stone walls. Perhaps not overly old but make an excellent camping spot.

On the way home, we stopped off at an old shearing shed, one which I will have to take the chance and jump the fence for a closer look. The two images is the old fence post for the gate in both original image and black /white coloured conversion. 

Not sure what it is about panoramic old farm gates...just like them...

Lastly, the old shearing shed. The lighting was better and the clouds appeared to clear a little. I played around with a few filters and ultimately decided on a sepia one...definitely look nice in a rustic frame.

Snow Fall in Yetholme

Having grown up in Oberon, one of the things I do miss is seeing a half decent snow fall. Yes, there is the freezing hands, cold winds, soaked clothes, but standing in a middle of a countryside with nothing more than the breeze and the eerie silence as the snow is falling is amazing.

A cold snap hit near the end of winter, and reports were that there was half decent snow falls in Yetholme, 15 minutes east of Bathurst. Yetholme is a small township which is one of two high points along the Great Western Highway, with regular falls of snow during winter.

With the family packed in the car, we headed off and found some nice, deep snow up near a forest called Mount Homer. The following images are from our quick visit...

Before the cold set in....

I walked along the dirt (mud) road for a short distance and noticed alot of emu footprints in the snow. I tried to capture the line of prints along a fence line, but perhaps not exactly how I wanted it. But it did open a new project idea for me to take a number of images of native animal foot prints in each of the extremes of Australia...if I could find some in mud and sand too, it might look quite good.

I always find contrasts interesting, especially the balance of snow against an Australian gum leaf. With the first image, it is in its original format. The second, a black and white - recoloured image. 

 A similar concept with that of the gum leaf. I went with trying to obtain the texture of the bark and snow, and then highlight the gum leaf. Not sure if this really turned out, but could imagine it as a desktop photo on my computer.

 The next three images are also the contrast of snow and greenery. I quite like how these turned out.

..and, ofcourse, I can't have photos with some sort of panoramic imagery. I like the third image perhaps moreso than the other two.

Located near where we stopped was an old cattle ramp, and on the corner of this were large posts which had an odd orange dusting on the timber. Not knowing what I could do with it, I took one photo, and then did some manipulation afterwards. Not sure if the results really stand out, but the original image is quite different to what I have found before.